These are the 10 most powerful brands in the world

Walt Disney has overtaken Lego to become the world's most powerful brand, according to valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance's annual rankings.

Only one technology firm made it into the top 10 — but it wans't Apple. Retail, media, and financial companies dominated the list.

Brand Finance evaluated companies by their familiarity, loyalty, promotion, marketing investment, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation. Using these factors, each brand's power was ranked out of 100. Each brand was also given a valuation.

10. Google

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Brand strength: 89.5

Brand value: $94.2 billion

Brand value rank: 2

What happened: Over the past year, Google has gone through big changes, having reorganized its structure to sit under parent company Alphabet in October. While cost-per-click advertising has been declining over recent years, the tech company is increasing its ability to generate substantial mobile revenue. Alphabet will post Google's Q4 earnings on Monday.

9. NBC

"Blindspot" is NBC's most watched show.NBC

Brand strength: 89.7

Brand value: $16.1 billion

Brand value rank: 72

What happened: NBC claims it is unthreatened by the rise of nonlinear TV services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Executive Alan Wurtzel boasted in January that "Everyone goes back to watching TV like God intended." Wurtzel was referring to data obtained by Symphony Advanced Media, which shows that the most popular shows on online-streaming services still get far fewer viewers than the best shows on traditional TV.

8. Coca-Cola

Reuters/ Rick Wilking

Brand strength: 90.4

Brand value: $34.2 billion

Brand value rank: 17

What happened: Coca-Cola is still incredibly popular, but the brand has been somewhat undermined over the past few years by consumers opting to switch away from sugary drinks. Low-sugar Coke Life has had disappointing sales, particularly in the UK, where they dropped by 71% between October 2014 and November 2015, according to Brand Finance. The company recently launched its new "Taste the Feeling" global campaign to unite the various incarnations of Coca-Cola under one message.

5. McKinsey

dragonpreneur/flickr

Brand strength: 91.4

Brand value: $4.8 billion

Brand value rank: 288

What happened: The consulting firm McKinsey has a power network of more than 1,400 partners and 18,500 employees. The brand is constantly adapting to changes in the workplace, and its consultants are often drafted to lead big business transformations. Managing director Dominic Barton told The Economic Times on Friday: "If you are not thinking about what parts of your business are going to change in two years from now, you may not be around."

4. PricewaterhouseCoopers

Bjørn Erik Pedersen

Brand strength: 91.5

Brand value: $18.6 billion

Brand value rank: 58

What happened: PricewaterhouseCoopers has a brand built on being one of the Big Four auditors, alongside KPMG, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte. PwC edged out McKinsey to be the most powerful brand in the financial industries this year. Last year was good for the firm, which marked a 10% increase in overall revenues from the previous year.

3. L'Oréal

What happened: L'Oréal has managed to maintain an air of exclusivity, despite its huge number of dedicated consumers. Brand Finance puts this success down to massive investment and an "unrivaled focus on marketing." Sales grew by 5.3% in the first six months of last year. Despite Brazil becoming a challenging market for the hair and beauty product brand this year, it has grown in emerging markets, such as China.

2. Lego

What happened: The least valuable brand in the top 10 is also the second most powerful. Its success is built upon the strong foundation of being in every child's toy box, but the Danish company has suffered some PR defeats over the past year, which kept it off the top spot. Lego attempted to prevent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei from making Lego art, for example. After widespread uproar, Lego reversed the policy in January. Lego was also fined by German regulators for attempting to prevent retailers from discounting its products.

1. Walt Disney

What happened: The acquisition of "Star Wars," ESPN, Pixar, The Muppets, and Marvel has made Disney the most powerful brand in the world. "Star Wars" has been particularly profitable for Disney since it acquired Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion in 2012. Brand Finance now estimates the "Star Wars" brand to be worth $10 billion. But Disney is not only powerful because of recent purchases: It benefits from a long and established history.